Audrey Love, 100; Arts Patron, Opera Devotee, Philanthropist

Audrey B. Love, 100, an arts patron and philanthropist who contributed to the construction of the Metropolitan Opera in New York, died Nov. 22 in Key Biscayne, Fla., of causes associated with aging.

Born and reared in Manhattan, the former Audrey Josephthal grew up in a wealthy family devoted to collecting art and supporting the arts.

In her youth, she briefly worked in theater and remained a strong devotee of the opera. She helped finance the Florida Grand Opera, as well as the Met.

After graduation from Smith College, she traveled to India, where she met the man she married, financier and diplomat C. Ruxton Love Jr.

The couple amassed a respected art collection, and their Napoleonic works were exhibited at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in 1978.

She served as president of the American Women’s Voluntary Service during World War II; was a director of the New York Infirmary Hospital; and was on the Committee for Deaf and Dumb Children at New York’s Lenox Hill Hospital.